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How to Write a Thesis (1977)

thereader.mitpress.mit.edu

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Re: How to Write a Thesis (1977)

#11

Post by voidhorse »

I own a heavily marked copy of this book in spite of having never written a thesis. It contains great advice for any long-term research oriented endeavor. As the article points out, not only will it help you get through the slog of momentous, detailed research without collapsing, it also contains sound advice on how to clear your head and prose before communicating your results.

Eco’s recommenced note taking system also superb. It’s no surprise he was able to write so prolifically.

Re: How to Write a Thesis (1977)

#12

Post by grenoire »

jormungand wrote: post #10

He was lucky not to have seen "theses" written in my home country Turkey. 90% of them are copy pastes. I saw many PhD theses quoting wikipedia. Ridiculous.

In all fairness, it's really due to universities not focusing at all on teaching research. Having studied (and taught) at a research university in the Netherlands, I can tell why my friends... well, didn't give a shit about their theses. For them, it simply is a longer essay with a predefined structure and some guidelines on the exact word count and referencing style.

It's sad, but it's not really about Turkey. It's global, and caused by the universities not caring themselves, and not teaching students how to write.

Re: How to Write a Thesis (1977)

#13

Post by jedberg »

> If you do not know the definition of a term, avoid using it. If it is one of the principal terms of your thesis and you are not able to define it, call it quits. You have chosen the wrong thesis (or, if you were planning to pursue further research, the wrong career).

This seems like good advice for life, not just your thesis.

Re: How to Write a Thesis (1977)

#15

Post by [deleted] »

jedberg wrote: post #13

> If you do not know the definition of a term, avoid using it. If it is one of the principal terms of your thesis and you are not able to define it, call it quits. You have chosen the wrong thesis (or, if you were planning to pursue further research, the wrong career). This seems like good advice for life, not just your thesis.

[deleted]

Re: How to Write a Thesis (1977)

#17

Post by neonate »

gnu8 wrote: post #4

I would have enjoyed reading the rest of that, but unfortunately a pop up appeared in the middle of the page as I scrolled down. I automatically close any page that does this. I can’t figure out why anyone thinks it is reasonable or appropriate to do that. Would you go up to someone in a library who is reading something and ask them if they want to subscribe to some crappy mailing list? Certainly not!

http://archive.is/QO4GQ

Re: How to Write a Thesis (1977)

#19

Post by YeGoblynQueenne »

m463 wrote: post #18

When reading this article... ...and the article a few days back "Writing a Ph.D. thesis with Org Mode" https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=20435576 My mind thinks about all these people reading articles instead of writing their thesis .

One of them may even be writing a thesis on HN comments (and commenting on HN rather than writing their thesis).

Re: How to Write a Thesis (1977)

#20

Post by FTA »

m463 wrote: post #18

When reading this article... ...and the article a few days back "Writing a Ph.D. thesis with Org Mode" https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=20435576 My mind thinks about all these people reading articles instead of writing their thesis .

It's all part of the yak shaving necessary to finish a thesis.
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